I never wanted children when I was younger. I had enough trouble looking after myself and so I thought that I would leave the child rearing to someone better equipped for that adventure. This changed for me in my late thirties, thank goodness! I wouldn’t have missed this for anything, literally anything. That’s not to say that there have not been challenges---- there have been terrible, unforeseeable hard times. But all in all I would not trade the experience of being a parent for any amount of money or anything else. For me, being a mother trumps it all, hands down. The chance to bear my girls, to feed them and know them and love them is something that I would never want to miss.
Your heart cannot be broken if it has not loved; when we love others, we become vulnerable. I am thinking about my girls whether they are sailing halfway around the world or driving down a local highway. It is the price you pay for being a parent. The deaths and resulting grief we experience over the course of our lives only magnify our concern. They teach us that life is not fair; there are no guarantees of longevity for ourselves or our loved ones. All I know is that I am profoundly grateful for all of these twenty-five years, every day, every hour, every minute. I maybe didn't know it at the time but I do now.
